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Marius Bentza, 38, is editor of www.seven times.ro , the only English-language online newspaper in the Romanian province of Transylvania. He lives in Cluj, his hometown, in Transylvania.
Q. Why is your publication called "Seven Times"?
"Transylvania" is too long for a Web-site name, especially when you add "News" or "Times" after it. We chose "Seven" because seven is the number of ancient cities in Transylvania. That's why Transylvania's crest shows seven towers - one for each historic city.
Q. In the last century, Transylvania has variously been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary and Romania. What language do most people speak?
Basically there are two. The official language, in the sense of government administration, is Romanian. But in cities where the Hungarian population is larger than 20 percent, that language is widely used and is also used on signs in shops. Most who speak Hungarian as a first language live in cities where Romanians are a minority. But they also speak Romanian.
There's also a minority of Germans here - something like 10 percent, as opposed to the 32 percent Hungarian minority. Germans are becoming less numerous because many migrated to Germany. But German is also spoken.
Q. I read that Transylvania is one of the more prosperous parts of Romania. True?
Transylvania is the biggest region in the country, with approximately 60 percent of the territory. From all the statistics I've seen, all the counties within Transylvania are richer than those in the rest of Romania with the exception of Bucharest, the national capital.
There are different views on why this is the case. For one thing, Transylvania is more geographically diverse - it's mountains and plateaus. It may also be related to history: We were long related to Austria-Hungary, which led to our having a different approach to work and wealth. It's certainly wealthier than some parts of the country. Nokia, the telephone manufacturer, has a plant here.
Q. What is the countryside like?
The plateau is surrounded by mountains, making a kind of natural citadel. The mountains are great if you want to hike; there are many options for that. And you can ski. Poiana Brasov is considered quite inexpensive compared to other ski areas in Europe, and has quality slopes.
In the countryside you can still see traditional lifestyles. People visit there to "travel back in time" and see how things looked 100 years ago.
Q. The best season to visit?
In warmer months, there's a famous medieval festival in Sighisoara. A similar one in Zalau celebrates the region's Roman heritage with costumes, a Roman parade and what is supposedly Roman food.
For a Dracula tour, the end of October. To ski, definitely December through February.
Q. What do Transylvanians do for Halloween?
We have no tradition like in the West. In the last three to five years, we started to celebrate it Western style, what with the "Halloween" movies and so on.
We have a different festival, on the first of November, called Luminatie - "Day of the Feast of the Dead." You go to the cemetery and every family lights a candle for each of their relatives who have died. Or, at home, you light candles for parents or grandparents.
There's no horror-movie atmosphere. It's about religion and about showing respect for the dead with memory and reverence.
Still, there is a folklore tradition in Transylvania about zombie-like creatures called strigoi ("stree-goy"). It's our traditional, non-Hollywood version of vampires, and if you go to the countryside, you may find people who share this belief in the living dead.
Q. Why do tourists go to Transylvania?
Many come for the Dracula story, and there are things you can see that are related to the historical character, Prince Vlad. There are castles in Transylvania that are related to him. Another castle that's fine and beautiful is Bran, though it's not Dracula's. And there's Hunyadi Castle.
And there's Borgo Pass, a castle that was built to match Bram Stoker's "Dracula" novel.
Q. So what do Transylvanians think of the "Dracula" vampire thing?
Stoker's "Dracula" is not our story. I didn't grow up with this vampire prince tale and only found out about it when I was 18 and heard about it on Radio Free Europe.
I had only known the actual history of Prince Vlad Dracul (1431-76), who is actually a national hero. Vlad was not a prince of Transylvania, by the way. He was a prince of Wallachia, a southern province of Romania that was an independent country during his time. The real Vlad was a cruel ruler, but most European leaders were harsh back then.
Transylvanians were generally shocked at first to find out that's what Westerners think of where we live. Then the people adapted for industry. We want tourists, and if the vampire Dracula is what you want, you can have the Halloween parties and Dracula souvenirs.
In the 1990s, when Romanians got the money and means to start traveling abroad, you hear stories about their going to places like Italy and being asked, "Are you really from Transylvania? Do you really have vampires?'"
People would joke, "Yes!"
